Continued Collaboration

Football is the fastest growing sport in Special Olympics, with more than 435,000 athletes currently participating around the globe. In the Asia Pacific region the aim is to grow the total number of footballers from over 65,980 in 2010 to 350,000 in five years, to be part of the global target of 1 million football athletes by 2015.

To further our growth efforts, Special Olympics Malaysia National Director Dato’ Peter Velappan, Dato' Mohd. Feisol, President of Special Olympics Malaysia and Dato’ Daud Ahmad, Treasurer of Special Olympics Malaysia, met with Joseph S. Blatter, President of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), on 23 November 2011 in Kuala Lumpur, to discuss how to collaborate on the Malaysia football program’s expansion.

This follows Special Olympics Chairman and CEO Tim Shriver’s meeting with President Blatter on 18 November 2011 in Zurich, Switzerland, where both participated in talks on how the ongoing collaboration between Special Olympics and FIFA can help improve the world through the power of sport.

Future for Special Olympics football in Asia Pacific

Dato’ Peter is the former general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) from 1978 to 2007, and remains an opinion leader on Asian Football. During his tenure, he oversaw the entry of many member countries into the AFC, and was the Coordination Director of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan.

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The Start of the Solution

Young people from around the globe with and without intellectual disabilities are coming together at the SOGenUin Summit as part of the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games with one goal - to change the world.